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Apostrophe

When using a possessive apostrophe for names that end in 's', e.g. James, should it be "James' mother" or "James's mother"? I was taught "James'", but in the Eat Shoots and Leaves book, it says that it is now "James's", but this looks wrong. Help please, thank you.

Re: Apostrophe

Originally Posted by Pensby

When using a possessive apostrophe for names that end in 's', e.g. James, should it be "James' mother" or "James's mother"? I was taught "James'", but in the Eat Shoots and Leaves book, it says that it is now "James's", but this looks wrong. Help please, thank you.

There are many scheems for handling the possessives of singular words/names ending in s.

1. Always add 's.
2. Add 's to words of one syllable; add just an apostrophe to words of two or more syllables.
3. Add 's only if you pronounce it as an additional syllable.
4. Add 's unless the additional syllable would result in a repetitious sound (as with Jesus, Moses, Xerxes, etc.)

I was taught #2, but in the past few decades, most style guides I have consulted have switched to #1. This is probably the clearest method.

Re: Apostrophe

Thank you for clearing this up for me as I was taught that if there's an s and the end of the word then the apostrophe follows the s. such as in a plural noun or a name, like Carlosī but as you said it depends on how it is pronouned. You do say, "It's Carlos's car" not "Carlosīcar"

Re: Apostrophe

Originally Posted by billie tisdell gonzalez

Thank you for clearing this up for me as I was taught that if there's an s and the end of the word then the apostrophe follows the s. such as in a plural noun or a name, like Carlosī but as you said it depends on how it is pronouned. You do say, "It's Carlos's car" not "Carlosīcar"

In Canada it would be Carlos's car. If you don't pronounce the second 's' it would indicate that the name is Carlo, not Carlos.